ProShare Advisors LLC Buys 2,296 Shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS)

ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,296 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Discover Financial Services were worth $6,914,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DFS. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Discover Financial Services by 135.1% during the first quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 4,478 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. increased its holdings in Discover Financial Services by 57.6% in the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 25,404 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,855,000 after buying an additional 9,287 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Discover Financial Services in the 1st quarter valued at $983,000. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Discover Financial Services by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC now owns 2,633,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $295,968,000 after buying an additional 251,909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Discover Financial Services by 61.0% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 62,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,197,000 after acquiring an additional 23,702 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DFS. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Discover Financial Services from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Discover Financial Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Discover Financial Services from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. StockNews.com started coverage on Discover Financial Services in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Discover Financial Services from $115.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.94.

Discover Financial Services Price Performance

DFS opened at $136.49 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.42. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $134.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $128.93. Discover Financial Services has a one year low of $79.04 and a one year high of $147.61.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The financial services provider reported $6.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.06 by $3.00. The firm had revenue of $4.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.18 billion. Discover Financial Services had a return on equity of 20.92% and a net margin of 12.88%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.54 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Discover Financial Services will post 12.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Discover Financial Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. Discover Financial Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.93%.

Discover Financial Services Profile

Discover Financial Services, through its subsidiaries, provides digital banking products and services, and payment services in the United States. It operates in two segments, Digital Banking and Payment Services. The Digital Banking segment offers Discover-branded credit cards to individuals; private student loans, personal loans, home loans, and other consumer lending; and direct-to-consumer deposit products comprising savings accounts, certificates of deposit, money market accounts, IRA certificates of deposit, IRA savings accounts and checking accounts, and sweep accounts.